We answer the question: "Switch - what is it?"

Often, computer network users do not see the difference between network equipment such as switches, hubs, and the like. From them you can hear questions: "Switch? What is it? "Or" What is the difference between a hub and a hub? ". In this article we will look at the basic network equipment and understand what the devices mentioned differ from each other.

Switch. What it is?

These devices are used to connect a variety of devices, such as computers, servers, network cameras, etc., connected with them to a common network. That is, the switch is a kind of mediator that allows various devices to communicate with each other. Now let's give a far from technical readers the concept of the following terms, perhaps for some it will be a discovery. The switch and the switch are the same device. The term "commutator" is simply a translation from English of the word "switch". The same applies to the terms "hub" and "hub".

Advantages of switches

These devices are characterized by high capacity, high speed of information transfer, reliability and guarantee of correctness of transmitted data. As a result of using switches, the workload of the entire computer network or its individual sections is reduced.

Here we are in a nutshell, almost without the use of complex technical terms, considered a concept such as a switch, what it is and what it is for. Now let's look at the difference between the switch and the hub. So, let's get started.

How the concentrator works

These devices connect all the cables of a computer network, they allow the passage of information from one node to another at a certain time. And the hub offers these data in turn to each node, until they reach the right addressee. In the event that it is necessary to send (or receive) information to several devices at once, the hub is not able to do this simultaneously. He selects the user in a random order and performs the transfer, then the next, and so on. This entire process is carried out on a single bus, the bandwidth of which is only 100 Mbit / sec.

How the Switch Works

Now let's analyze the switch: what it is, we already know, it remains only to find out how it works. This device is more "intelligent" than a hub. After being included in the computer network, the switch remembers the network addresses of each node. To do this, it contains a memory block. As a result, the switch determines the device that needs to transfer data, and sends it to the addressee immediately, which significantly speeds up the network. The advantage of this device is its simplicity, since in order for the network to work, it is not necessary to configure the switch. It is enough to connect the connectors - and everything, the network is ready to work. The bus bandwidth is 1 Gbit / sec, which exceeds the concentrator by 10 times. Due to such a high data transfer speed, the organized Internet through the switch will be much higher than the same traffic, but distributed, say, via Wi-Fi.